wednesday

Hump day on my week of rundowns. I realize these posts are a little nuts, but premiere season will do that to me.

NBC
Knight Rider: No Hoff, no watch.

Lipstick Jungle: Here’s a show that I really want to like, but I’m still struggling a bit. It’s about three powerful business women and best friends in NYC (Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lynday Price). First, it was a debate about Candace Bushnell, who wrote the book. She graced us with SATC, and no one can take that away, but she’s become increasingly annoying since. Then, it was competition with a seemingly identical show called Cashmere Mafia on ABC. That one seemed to hook me first because Lucy Lui was great. But then I started to see that the characters in Lipstick Jungle might have more staying power. They have the right balance of likeability and hateability, but I still have trouble believing in the friendship between these three women. With Mafia cancelled, I really got into Jungle by the end of the short season. Lyndsay Price (Janet from 90210) and Andrew McCarthy (always Blaine from Pretty in Pink in our hearts) have awesome chemistry. This season, we’ll be seeing the great Mary Tyler Moore as Brooke Shields’ mother. We’ll see how it goes.

ABC
Pushing Daisies: I can honestly say there is nothing else like this show on television. This was new last season. Here’s the premise: A guy can bring dead people back to life by touching them. But if he lets them live for more than one minute, another person in the vicinity dies. Also, he can never touch them again or they will die forever. Confused yet? The setting is just far enough out of reality to make you a believer. The costumes and set design are so cool. If I still don’t have you: Kristen Chenoweth. And she sings.

Private Practice: Addison, I loved you. Like really loved you. But your mid-life crisis is bringing me down. Stop whining and start saving more babies. There are some great actors here, but they really need to rethink the writing.

Dirty, Sexy Money: This is a great old newbie that also went a little under the radar. It’s a welcome departure from the parade of crime/law dramas. Peter Krause (Six Feet Under) narrates and stars in this one about a rich family that basically owns NYC city. The cast is really strong with Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Blair Underwood among others, including Candis Cayne, who is the most gorgeous transgender person I have ever seen. It’s sort of Sopranos meets Dallas with a little comedy thrown in. If you’re into that, check it out.

CBS
Old Christine: This gets a lot of good reviews and award nominations, but doesn’t really interest me. Does anyone watch?

Gary Unmarried: CBS is trying out a new comedy about a recently divorced man adjusting to being single again after 15 years of marriage while also raising two kids with his controlling ex-wife. How creative. Jay Mohr (Jerry Macguire) stars and Ed Begley Jr. plays his therapist. Not so much.

Criminal Minds: This would normally be too intense for my taste, but I got into it during the strike last season. It’s one of those that you can watch without any background on the characters. It’s about a group of traveling FBI profilers who hunt serial killers. The profiling is interesting, although usually pretty disturbing. The characters are likeable enough that it’s killing me to find out how they’ll resolved the cliffhanger, which presented the possible death of EVERY single main character. Who will it be?

CSI:NY: Is this the one with David Caruso? He’s weird. I don’t like it.

FOX
Bones: In the great history of star-crossed TV lovers…Tony & Angela, Jim & Pam, Ross & Rachel, Mulder & Scully… Bones & Booth are at the top. For real. This show has been chugging along for a while on FOX. The premise is an FBI investigator (David Boreanaz) partnered with a nerdy scientist (Emily Deschanel), who works at the fictional equivalent of the Smithsonian Institute in DC. The supporting cast of fellow nerds is really strong and really funny. Emily Deschanel plays an overly literal ridiculously endearing female lead. This is among my top recommendations.

Til Death: Brad Garrett (a.k.a. Robert Barone) and Joely Fisher play “two middle-aged wedded warriors” in this comedy. Yuck.

Do Not Disturb: Three things make me hopeful about this new CBS comedy, which will surely be cancelled in one hot minute: 1) Jason Bateman directing 2) Jerry O’Connell 3) Jesse Tyler Ferguson, a newcomer who I’ve really liked in failed sitcoms of the past, although I worry his gay character will be way over-stereotyped in this one.

Note: Other networks have fashion/design reality going on Wednesdays - America’s Next Top Model and Stylista on CW, and the venerable Project Runway on Bravo (more to come).